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The Kodiak
High School Bears are the small schools state softball champions. The team took
the scenic route after losing their first game and being forced to come up
through the losers’ bracket. In the end, though, they defeated the defending
state champs twice in a row for the title.

Kodiak won
the first game of the championship series 1-to-nothing against Ketchikan on a
game-winning hit by Janelle Tirona in the bottom of the seventh inning. Then
the Bears won 15-to-nothing in four innings in the deciding game.

KVOK’s Doug
Letch has the call of the last out with pitcher Tianna (tie-anna) Allen facing
Ketchikan’s star, Danielle Larson. The count is one ball and two strikes:

--(Softball
123
sec“…
the Kodiak Bears are your champions.”)

The Bears
got a bye in the first round of the tournament and lost their first game to the
Kings 1-to-nothing. Kodiak then had to fight its way through the losers’
bracket by dismantling Eilson 24-to-2 in three innings on Friday, and then
downing Soldotna and Sitka on Saturday morning before having to face Ketchikan
again Saturday afternoon.

Because it
was a double-elimination tournament, Kodiak had to beat the Kings twice in a
row to win the championship. Kodiak won the first game 1-to-nothing, and of
course the final game 15-to-nothing. In going 2-and-1 against Ketchikan during
the tournament, Kodiak outscored them 16-to-1 and Allen gave up only three
hits.

Tianna
Allen, Addie Jones and Corissa Ferris were named to the All-Tournament Team,
and the Bears also brought home the sportsmanship trophy.

It was
another team of bears that won the large school softball title: the
Juneau-Douglas Crimson Bears.